• Building your personal brand is about going from being ‘board curious’ to ‘board ready’.
• Board are still looking for the ‘traditional’ skills but NEDs are increasingly coming to boards with less traditional backgrounds.
• Shareholder activism has grown substantially so boards are having to adjust to this increased scrutiny.
• Boards are starting to look for subject matter experts such as diversity and inclusion, ESG, cyber security, AI, and digital transformation.
• Even companies that are privately held, or family-led, are starting to bring external expertise onto their boards.
• It’s essential to ask yourself, where do you see yourself fitting on a board? Is there a seat you’re aiming for?
• If you’re developing a specific brand for yourself, finding your niche or developing your expertise will help you make an impact in the boardroom and add value.
• If you’re looking to serve on a board for the first time, it’s worth considering a non-profit or charity where the subject matter is close to your heart. It’s a great way to gain valuable board experience.
• When a board is looking to fill a seat, it will be looking at your profile and deciding whether you’re relevant for what they need.
• Be able to verbalise the experiences you’ve had and how you’ll use this experience in your role on the board. 
• Decide the role you want to hold on a board and start building your profile to bolster your position into a specific role e.g. training
• The six-step strategy for building your board profile and finding a board role includes:
  1. Finding your seat – knowing where you want to sit on the board
  2. Identify your target – know the organisations, industry and geography that you want to be part of.
  3. Strengthen your core – evaluate what you need to know more of and how to become an expert in that area
  4. Designing your brand – have your CV ready, write a bio of who you are and your relevance, and update your LinkedIn profile
  5. Connect with purpose – promote yourself by connecting with head hunters, networking in groups or one-to-one, and speaking at events
  6. Establish trust – build genuine long-term relationships with board members, CEOs, headhunters

What are boards looking for when they’re appointing directors? How can you make sure you’re seen and recognised for the skills you have?

Join Wassim Karkabi, Founder & CEO at Fluent XP and CoachingLoft.com, for this webinar. He’ll be discussing how to create your own personal niche as a director and sharing his six-step approach to getting more board appointments.

Wassim is a Leadership, Organizational Culture & Business Growth expert with hands-on experience in helping Multinational and Regional organizations identify and resolve their Board, Executive, Leadership & Business Growth challenges

He has and continues to serve as Shareholder, Chairman, Board Director, Advisory Board Member, CEO and Managing Partner to a number of organizations. He advises international and regional organizations on strategy, business performance, leadership performance and business growth areas.

He has worked closely with a number of fortune 500 companies, Non-Profit Organizations as well as mid-cap to large regional organizations across the US, Europe and the Middle East. He coaches executives and business owners alike, including CEOs and aspiring executive leaders.